Monday, 11 July 2016

George Groves wins as Chris Eubank Jr defends title

George Groves beat Martin Murray by unanimous decision in a must-win super-middleweight contest in London.

The pair have had seven unsuccessful world title challenges between them and a tight contest was predicted.
But Groves landed more the regular and telling blows and was awarded the verdict 118-110 by all three judges.
Chris
Eubank Jr successfully defended his British middleweight title for the
first time with a fourth-round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Tom
Doran.

'It was make or break'

Groves,
28, was knocked out twice by Carl Froch in 2013 and 2014 and outpointed
by WBC super-middleweight champion Badou Jack last year.
"I think
I performed great, but I got caught with punches," Groves told Sky
Sports. "Martin Murray is a class act and should be a world champion.
"It
was make or break, but I had him out on his feet. That was my first
step up since losing to Badou Jack. I did well but hats off to Murray.
What a performer."
Murray, 33, has come up short in three
middleweight world title fights and was also outpointed by Germany's WBA
super-middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in his most recent fight.
Groves,
defending his lightly-regarded WBA 'international' belt, looked the
sharper in the first three rounds but Murray got a foot-hold in the
fourth, pinning his opponent in the corner and unleashing a barrage of
blows.
The Londoner's seasoning at the higher weight became
evident in the middle rounds and he wobbled Murray with a right uppercut
at the end of the seventh.
Murray appeared to be fully recovered
by the ninth but he was stiffened by a left-right combination at the end
of the round and staggered to his corner.
But just when the St
Helens fighter looked like he might be spent, he landed with a couple of
monstrous right hands in the 10th, which Groves did well to absorb.
Murray
continued to search for a knockout blow over Groves' low left hand in
the last two rounds but it was Groves who landed with the more telling
shots.
And when the final bell sounded, Murray was almost out on his feet.

'I'm not ready to retire'

Following his defeat, Murray said he would not be quitting boxing.
"I got beaten by a better man. He was good and he hurt me a couple times," he told Sky Sports.
"I'm gutted. I'm sorry I didn't do enough today and I got beat clearly. But I'm not ready to retire.
"People say George Groves is finished but he proved he's not and I definitely have so much more to give."

'Gennady Golovkin - I'm coming for you'

Eubank Jr, 26, was fighting for the first time since winning the
British middleweight belt from Nick Blackwell, who was put into an
induced coma after the contest having suffered bleeding on the skull.
Blackwell woke from his coma a week later without requiring an operation, although he has been forced to retire.
Eubank's
father, Chris Eubank Sr, admitted he lost his ruthless instinct after
his 1991 rematch with Michael Watson, which left the latter with
life-threatening injuries.
But Eubank Jr was as effective as ever
against Doran, dropping the Welshman three times before the referee
called a halt to proceedings.
Eubank is targeting a match with
WBA and IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, who is undefeated
and has 32 knockouts from 35 fights.
But, having taken some solid
shots from the unheralded but game Doran, challenging the Kazakh
knockout artist is likely be a step up too soon.
"It's all about
making statements," Eubank Jr told Sky Sports. "I feel I'm at world
level now and can be challenging for world titles.
"Gennady Golovkin - everybody's scared of you but I'm coming for you and I'm coming for your belts."

Whyte, Ogogo and Benn win

Dillian
Whyte returned to action following his defeat by Anthony Joshua last
December with a sixth-round knockout of the Czech Republic's Ivica
Bacurin.
Birmingham super-flyweight Kal Yafai continued his
serene progress in the pro ranks with a first-round stoppage of
Hungary's Jozsef Ajtai. Yafai, 27, is unbeaten in 19 paid fights.
Former
Olympic bronze medallist Anthony Ogogo got his stop-start career back
on track with a first-round victory over Croatia's Frane Radnic.
Ogogo,
27, forced his opponent to retire in his corner to improve his pro
record to 10 wins in as many fights, with six of those by knockout.
Conor
Benn, son of former two-weight world champion Nigel, made it three wins
out of three with a savage knockout of the Czech Republic's Lukas
Radic.
But former Commonwealth light-welterweight champion John
Wayne Hibbert was stopped on a bad cut in the sixth round by Italy's
Andrea Scarpa. The Essex boxer, 31, hoped a victory would lead to a
world title shot.